Fayed and the driver, Henri Paul, were killed instantly, while a bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, sustained critical injuries but survived. Though Diana was still alive when doctors reached the scene, their frantic work could not save her; a few hours later, she was pronounced dead of cardiac arrest at the age of 37.

News of Diana’s death shocked the world and precipitated an international outpouring of sadness and disbelief. Many in Britain directed their anger at the royal family, who was characteristically tight-lipped about their grief. Others blamed the paparazzi, as photographers had been pursuing the couple (as photographers invariably pursued Diana) on their fatal drive. (In September 1999, a French court officially ruled that the crash was caused by the fact that Paul, the driver, had been drunk and on prescription drugs at the time. The report also stated that both Fayed and Diana would have survived the crash, had they been wearing seatbelts. The ruling did little to discourage Fayed’s father, Mohamad al-Fayed, who angrily claimed possible British Intelligence involvement.)

Even before Diana’s funeral, people from around the world began bringing flowers to Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, St. James Palace (where her body lay in state), and the Spencer family estate at Althorp. Donations totaling nearly $150 million flooded the newly established Diana, Princess of Wales Fund; many were designated specifically for her favorite charities. On September 6, 1997, more than a million people lined up along the three-mile funeral route to Westminster Abbey to pay their last respects to the princess they had all taken to their hearts.